Aggie offense looks to heat up again

QB: Trevor Knight (RS-Sr.; 6'1", 215 lbs.; 129-246, 1,664 yards, 11 TD, 6 INT; 78 carries for 526 yards and 9 TD rushing)

RB: Trayveon Williams (Fr.; 5'9", 200 lbs.; 91 carries, 727 yards and 5 TD)

TE: Tanner Schorp (RS-Jr.; 6'3", 250 lbs.)

WR: Speedy Noil (Jr.; 5'11", 200 lbs.; 8 catches, 116 yards, 1 TD)

Slot: Christian Kirk (Soph.; 5'11", 200 lbs.; 49 catches for 410 yards and 5 TD)

Slot: Ricky Seals-Jones (RS-Jr.; 6'5", 240 lbs.; 11 catches, 200 yards)

WR: Josh Reynolds (Sr.; 6'4", 193 lbs.; 27 catches for 515 yards and 5 TD)

LT: Avery Gennesy (RS-Sr.; 6'5", 315 lbs.)

LG: Colton Prater (Fr.; 6'4", 295 lbs.)

C: Erik McCoy (RS-Fr.; 6'4", 305 lbs.)

RG: Connor Lanfear (Soph.; 6'6", 315 lbs.)

RT: Jermaine Eluemunor (RS-Sr.; 6'4", 325 lbs.)

Scoring offense: 36.4 PPG (27th nationally, 3rd SEC)

Passing offense: 245 YPG (45th nationally, 6th SEC)

Rushing offense: 251.4 YPG (15th nationally, 3rd SEC)

Total offense: 496.4 YPG (17th nationally, 4th SEC)

Time of possession: 26:18 (113th nationally, 12th SEC)

3rd down conversions: 37.6% (84th nationally, 10th SEC)

4th down conversions: 60% (38th nationally, 3rd SEC)

First downs: 159 (54th nationally, 6th SEC)

Red zone conversion %: 83.9% (61st nationally, 4th SEC)

Turnover +/-: +6 (19 takeaways, 13 giveaways; 18th nationally, 1st SEC)

Sacks allowed: 11 (29th nationally, 3rd SEC)

Penalties: 47 for 393 yards (69th nationally, 10th SEC)

After a rough go of things at Alabama (though better than most teams do), the Aggie offense is looking to get its swagger back. Going up against at team that gives up more than 41 points a game is a good way to do it.

The first trick may be getting the offensive line feeling good about itself again. That could come in the form of some deep passes from Trevor Knight, or they could just decide to grind away at a defense that gives up nearly 246 yards a game on the ground. Odds are, it'll be both.

The Aggies made some big mistakes against Alabama, and this is a great opportunity to iron things back out before returning to SEC play next weekend at Mississippi State. A&M needs to work on making the passing game whole again, finding ways to get Ricky Seals-Jones and Speedy Noil (or Jeremy Tabuyo if Noil can't go) involved in the gameplan. Once that's done, they have their duo of running backs, Williams and Keith Ford, both 100%. After getting some work in and, hopefully, building a sizable lead, the first team can turn things over to Jake Hubenak and the backups for some work.

LDE: Jassavia Reese (Soph.; 6'4", 265 lbs.; 23 tackles, 1 TFL, .5 sacks)

DT: Kourtland Busby (Jr.; 6'3", 255 lbs.; 19 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1 fumble recovery)

NT: Roy Lopez (Fr.; 6'2", 290 lbs.; 15 tackles)

RDE: Stody Bradley (Jr.; 6'2", 254 lbs.; 21 tackles, 3 TFL)

WLB: Dalton Herrington (Jr.; 6'2", 225 lbs.; 62 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 INT, 2 passes broken up, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery)

MLB: Rodney Butler (Sr.; 6'1", 240 lbs.; 102 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 1 INT, 1 pass broken up, 2 forced fumbles)

SLB: Terrill Hanks (Soph.; 6'3", 230 lbs.; 58 tackles, 7 TFL, 1 INT, 2 forced fumbles)

LCB: Jared Phipps (Fr.; 5'9", 165 lbs.; 24 tackles, .5 TFL, 1 INT, 2 passes broken up)

FS: Jacob Nwangwa (Jr.; 6', 207 lbs.; 49 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 pass broken up)

SS: Jaden Wright (Jr.; 6', 215 lbs.; 42 tackles, .5 TFL, 3 INT, 1 forced fumble)

RCB: DeMarcus Owens (Soph.; 5'10", 181 lbs.; 24 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 5 passes broken up, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery)

Scoring defense: 41.6 PPG (125th nationally, 11th Sun Belt)

Pass defense: 258 YPG (95th nationally, 7th Sun Belt)

Rush defense: 245.6 YPG (119th nationally, 10th Sun Belt)

Total defense: 503.6 YPG (124th nationally, 11th Sun Belt)

First downs allowed: 182 (114th nationally, 10th Sun Belt)

3rd down conversion defense: 49% (124th nationally, 11th Sun Belt)

4th down conversion defense: 50% (51st nationally, 6th Sun Belt)

Sacks: 6 (125th nationally, 10th Sun Belt)

Tackles for loss: 42 (60th nationally, 6th Sun Belt)

Red zone defense: 87.2% (85th nationally, 6th Sun Belt)

Turnover +/-: -2 (86th nationally, 8th Sun Belt)

This group of Aggies also likes to try to bring pressure and get to the opponents in the backfield. Unlike the other bunch, though, they don't do a very good job of it. NMSU racks of a decent amount of tackles for loss, but struggles mightily getting any pressure on the quarterback. That's pretty clear in their passing yards allowed; the problem is they're also undersized up front and get gashed even worse on the ground than they do in the air.

NMSU's linebacking corps is their strength; Herrington and Hanks frequently come off the edges to attack both the run and the pass and are among the team's tacklers for loss. In the middle, Butler is a tackling machine with more than 100 tackles already this year. His 59 solos alone would lead the Aggies in total tackles.

Wright, at free safety, is the team's big playmaker. He's solid in coverage and plays an excellent center field. He'll be needed a lot, because NMSU is starting a true freshman and a sophomore at corner and they've been repeatedly torched all year. In their only other game against an SEC opponent, they gave up 62 points to a Kentucky team that is otherwise averaging less than 21 points a game. They're young, they're undersized and lacking talent. That's a very bad combination against an A&M offense that is more than a little angry after last week.